Do we really need 7 betting offices at Bakers Arms?

The Council has recently received a planning application for a betting office at 857 Leyton High Road (formally Woolworths).
If this is granted there would be at least seven betting offices around the Bakers Arms area.  Residents were angry that a betting office was recently allowed on the Bakers Arms pub site.

Under new regulations, councillors are allowed now to make objections to these applications.  So I have made an official objection to this new betting office application.

My objections are:-
There are already too many betting offices in the area.  Leyton is not an affluent area and betting offices are there to make money.

Gambling can be an addiction and more betting offices can only encourage this.  This could increase crime in the area, as those who  lose out may resort to crime to feed their addiction.

Children and vulnerable adults will also be affected if one or both parents use family funds to pay for betting, so depriving them of a proper income from which to live.

I will keep you informed of the outcome.

NEW RESIDENTS FORUM

Following the axing of the very popular Community Councils, your Liberal Democrat councillors,  Bob, Winnie and Naheed are setting up a new residents forum, so that local people can have their say and find out about what’s going on in the area. 

The first meeting is on  Thursday 19th May at the Score Centre in Oliver Road, opposite Leyton Orient Football ground, starting at 7pm and ending hopefully at 9.00pm.

Please put the date in your diary.  I will be publishing the full agenda nearer the date.

If there is any subject that you would like to be discussed at the meeting – then contact me or one of the Lib Dem Focus Team and we will try and get it on the agenda.

Plans for 590-594 High Road Leyton – REFUSED

Artist impression looking towards Bakers Arms

The plans to convert the corner of Leyton High Road and Hainault Roadinto flats etc.  has been refused by the Council’s Planning Department.  The planners say that the developments design, height and bulk would constitute and over- development of the site, out of character with the street scene and townscape, and would thus be detrimental to the visual amenities of the area.

Of course the developers could appeal or produce another  plan more in keeping with the area.  I will keep you informed of any further developments. 

Thousands of Waltham Forest residents to get income tax cut

These are difficult times for people across Britain and particularly in Waltham Forest, which is not an affluent borough, but last week’s budget has shown that this can also be an opportunity to reshape Britain into a fairer, more equal and greener country.  

Labour’s financial legacy has left Britain needing to borrow an extra £400million, every single day, just to get by.  

Labour also left us paying £120million in interest on our debt each and every day – for that we could build a new primary school every hour.  

In all this debt there is Good News for Waltham Forest as 88,o00 residents will be getting a £200 income tax cut and 3,700  will be lifted out of paying income tax altogether.  

If you are a pensioner then you will receive an extra £4.50 a week – and those retiring now will be on average £15,000 better off over their retirement.  

The Liberal Democrats in Government are making sure that eventually personal allowances will rise to £10,000. This will mean more Waltham Forest residents receiving a tax cut and even more low paid workers paying no tax at all.

 

  
 

 

Leyton’s Waltham Forest Direct shop to be axed

The Waltham Forest Direct (WFD) shop opposite the bus garage near Bakers Arms, is to be axed.  A  Liberal Democrat amendment at the budget setting meeting to retain the WFD shops was defeated by Labour councillors who decided to close the Waltham Forest Direct Shops in Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford.

It was noted that the branch in Walthamstow is staying open!

This will be a big blow to Leyton  residents who use it to sort out Council queries and benefit problems.  I have heard that a limited WFD service may become available at the new re-furbished Leyton Library.  We shall see!

CARERS NEED LOOKING AFTER TOO!

Those people who look after someone else are priceless in our society.  They need all the support that they can get.

That is why the Liberal Democrat councillors Council budget included putting an extra £300,000  into respite care, respite breaks and services for carers.  However, unfortunately the Labour and Tory councillors did not support this.  So the vote was lost – see article below for more on the Lib Dem budget..

If you are someone who cares for other people in your family or in the community, you can get free information, advice and support – just call ‘Carers Direct’ free on 0808 802 0202 or go to www.nhs.uk/carersdirect

As a local councillor, if you need help or advice, then don’t hesitate to contact me or my two Lib Dem councillor colleagues Cllr. Naheed Qureshi and Cllr. Winnie Smith.

Local Tory and Labour ‘Love In’

WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT! 

 At the Council meeting last week where the 2011/2012 budget was set, the Tories, who are the official opposition on Waltham Forests Labour Council, failed to put forward their own budget.

They also failed to support the Lib Dem budget, which tried to save some of the key services to vulnerable families and residents of the borough (see below for details).  They tried to deride it and even went on to praise the Labour budget that cut services by millions. 

Those at the meeting were taken aback by the ‘cosying up’ of the Tories to Labour.  Some even said it looked like a ‘Love In’.  When it came to the vote the Tories  then ABSTAINED on both the Labour and Liberal Democrat budgets!  So much for the Tory opposition on the Council.

The Liberal Democrat councillors were the ONLY opposition to Labour.

The Liberal Democrat Budget tries to protect local services

At the Council’s budget setting meeting, on Tuesday night, the Liberal Democrats put forward their alternative proposals:

LIB DEMS SET OUT PLANS FOR BETTER BUDGET WHICH PROTECTS THE MOST VULNERABLE

The Liberal Democrat Group put forward a budget amendment which protects services to the most vulnerable, especially children and carers, and still freezes council tax.

The Liberal Democrat budget:

  • puts more money into children centres, young people’s services, respite care and support for carers and people with mental health problems compared to Labour’s proposals
  • maintains services to residents in Chingford, Leyton and Leytonstone through Waltham Forest Direct, so that residents will not have to travel to Walthamstow to deal with benefit and other council enquiries
  • restores residents’ ability to influence decision-making by retaining slimmed-down community councils
  • reverses above-inflation fee increases for pest control charges and sports pitch hire
  • funds extra pothole repairs this year to put right our crumbling roads.

 The Liberal Democrats will fund these services by:

  • slashing members allowances, which have grown substantially over the last decade, by over a quarter of a million pounds
  • reducing the amount spent on corporate communications and campaigns. Waltham Forest was recently revealed as the biggest spender on propaganda associated with the Comprehensive Spending Review, using almost £27,000 of taxpayers’ money to promote the fact it has to make savings
  • reducing the amount spent on subsidising trades union activity in line with other service reductions
  • using money built up in the insurance reserve to fund pothole repairs thereby reducing the number of successful insurance claims against the council
  • using other reserves to protect key services and support the transition to new ways of working

Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Bob Sullivan, said:

“This is a very difficult budget for the council but Labour has chosen to protect councillors’ allowances and the council’s propaganda factory while making cuts that the Liberal Democrats would not have done. Our budget proposals protect those services which make a real difference to residents’ lives.”

Liberal Democrat councillor for Forest ward, Farooq Qureshi, said:

“I am delighted that the Liberal Democrat proposals prevent the closure of the Waltham Forest Direct offices in Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford – funded by cutting councillors’ allowances and reducing the amount of money spent on glossy campaigns. The services provided by the WFD shops are irreplaceable. They should not be forced to travel to join long queues in the sole remaining Walthamstow office.”

Liberal Democrat High Street councillor Mahmood Hussain said:

“It is clear that Labour’s proposals will have a drastic impact on many people who rely on respite care to give them a vital break. By putting extra money back into this service the Lib Dem amendment gives carers a boost.”

Liberal Democrat Cann Hall ward councillor Liz Phillips said:

“Waltham Forest has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in England and Wales. It is a false economy to cut this service so drastically when the social and economic costs of teenage pregnancy are so high.”

GOOD NEWS – Glyn Hopkin Nissan plans refused!

Good news – At last nights Planning Committee the plan to re-develop the Glyn Hopkin Nissan showrooms on the corner of Ruckholt Road and Oliver Road was refused by the committee.

Residents in the area will be delighted that the plans to build up to six stories of flats with little parking was thrown out.  This is the second time the plans have not been accepted.  I hope that the developers will go back to the drawing board and come back with plans for family houses with parking spaces and not loads of one and two bed flats.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GET!

Yes to Fairer Votes On the 5th May there will be a referendum on whether we keep the old voting system or whether we change it to a fairer voting system called AV (Alternate Vote).

Instead of just voting X for one candidate that we do now, with AV you will be asked to vote in order of your preference e.g.1, 2, 3, etc..  So MPS who now can be elected on only 1/3rd of the votes will have to get over half the votes to be elected.  So no ones vote is wasted. 

The YES campaign is going very well and winning the argument for a fairer voting system.  So well that the NO campaigners are losing the argument and having been consistently out organised by our grassroots volunteers, have been reduced to scare stories and smears to try to score cheap political points.

They have resorted to gutter politics.  As horrifying as this may sound, the No to AV campaign took out a two-page advertisement in the Birmingham Mail claiming that a sick baby “needs a new cardiac facility NOT an alternative voting system.

 This is shocking and shameful. This is not the debate that the country deserves.

 It’s clear that the No campaign don’t have the decency and integrity to regulate themselves, but this can’t go on. We need the Advertising Standards Authority to issue guidance on this campaign, and fast. Co-sign our letter to the ASA today:   http://www.yestofairervotes.org/ASA-demand-better

 This isn’t the first time that the No campaign have attempted to play on voters’ fears – but it certainly is the crudest.

 Just last week they claimed that AV would force the UK to spend £130 million on magical electronic counting machines. This neglected one simple fact – there are absolutely no plans to introduce electronic counting machines – there never were. Australia, which has used AV for 80 years, has never used counting machines.

 We must put a stop to these lies, and the only way we can do that is with an open, fair and honest debate – something that is proving surprisingly elusive.

UK voters are entitled to legal, decent, honest and truthful advertising campaigns – these adverts fail on every count. Join us in calling for the ASA to step in today, so that we can get on with the debate the country deserves. 

If you would like further information about the referendum please contact me or you can find out more on  www.yestofairervotes.org